India eyes hike in crude production to cut imports.

NEW DELHI: The government has sought to push domestic oil production to reduce its dependence on imports, while seeking to make India an airline hub.

Sources said the two issues were flagged at a meeting of infrastructure secretaries with PM Narendra Modi on Monday where oil, renewable energy and aviation came up for discussion along with the performance of the 11 infrastructure sectors during the first quarter of the current financial year.

In case of oil, the key theme was reduction in imports, which meet 80% of the country's demand. To boost domestic production, emphasis was given on exploration and tapping explored fields where production was low. "There is a need to monetise discoveries that have already been made," said an officer who attended the meeting.

Sources also said there were suggestions that the government and oil companies should sort out their contractual disputes so that domestic production could be pushed. There was also discussion around increasing rooftop solar systems, sources said.

"In the aviation sector, we had comprehensive deliberations on improving safety, connectivity and customer satisfaction... Regional connectivity assumes great importance for us because the more our smaller towns get connected, better opportunities will be available for people in those towns," the PM said in a statement on Tuesday. Modi has been regularly monitoring the performance of infrastructure sectors for boosting facilities.

Source : timesofindia.indiatimes.com